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Armenian-American lawyer and politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zareh John Sinanyan (Armenian: Զարեհ Սինանյան, born December 4, 1973) is an Armenian-American politician currently serving as the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of Armenia. He is a former member of the city council of Glendale, California and twice served as the city's mayor. As a city councilman, he held posts in various commissions, including Parks, Recreation and Community Service, and the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee.
Zareh Sinanyan | |
|---|---|
| |
| High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of Armenia | |
| Assumed office June 14, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Position established (Mkhitar Hayrapetyan as Minister of Diaspora)[1] |
| Member of the Glendale City Council | |
| In office April 2013 – April 2018 | |
| Mayor of Glendale, California | |
| In office April 2018 – April 2019[2] | |
| Preceded by | Vartan Gharpetian[2] |
| Succeeded by | Ara Najarian[2] |
| In office April 2014 – April 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Dave Weaver |
| Succeeded by | Ara Najarian |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Zareh John Sinanyan[3] December 4, 1973[4] Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union[4] |
| Nationality | Armenian-American |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of Southern California |
On June 14, 2019 Sinanyan was appointed High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of Armenia (a position created to replace the abolished post of Minister of Diaspora) by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.[5]
Zareh Sinanyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia, in 1973 and attended the local school No. 172.[6][7] His father was born in Istanbul, Turkey and settled in Armenia in 1946.[8] His mother is from Talin, Armenia.[8]
He and his family immigrated to the United States in 1988 and settled in Burbank, California.[6] Sinanyan attended the John Muir Middle School in Burbank and went on to graduate from Burbank High School.[7] In 1997 he earned a bachelor's degrees in political science and history in 1997 at the University of California, Los Angeles.[9][10] He then attended law school at the University of Southern California, where he obtained his Juris Doctor.[9] While in law school, Sinanyan worked for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and interned for Justice Earl Johnson of the California Court of Appeal.[10] After his graduation from law school, he entered civil litigation service and ran his own law office.[10]
Sinanyan was appointed to the Parks, Recreation and Community Service's Commission of Glendale in 2006 and held this position until 2008.[9][10] He served as chairman to the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2011.[9] He was also a commissioner to the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2013.[9]
Sinanyan ran for one of three Glendale City Council seats in the April 2013 election and finished third out of twelve candidates.[11] He is the first Armenian-born politician to hold a seat on the Glendale City Council.[12] At his second City Council meeting, he publicly apologized for "racial and homophobic slurs" he had posted online for several years before the election.[13][14]
In July 2013, Sinanyan supported the establishment of a memorial to Korean comfort women in the Glendale Central Park, over the objections of the government of Japan and dozens of Japanese-Americans.[15] Sinanyan spoke at the unveiling of the memorial in late July, citing his own background as the grandson of an Armenian genocide survivor and asserting: "The best way to resolve conflicts... the best way to heal wounds... is to acknowledge them. My people, my grandfather, were subjected to a horrible, horrible crime... To this day, because no apology has come, no proper acknowledgement has come... the wound is deep, it's festering, and there can be no moving forward without it."[16]
In March 2018, Sinanyan was honored by Equality Armenia for his support of both LGBT and Armenian causes.[17]
In April 2014, Sinanyan was appointed mayor of Glendale, California replacing former mayor Dave Weaver.[18]
In November 2014 Sinanyan and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti were among the California politicians invited to attend the opening of a BBCN representative office in Seoul, South Korea.[19] Sinanyan also met with Lee Koon-hyon, Secretary General of the Saenuri Party.[20]
In 2013, Zareh Sinanyan made several racist and homophobic remarks online, using slurs to describe gays, threatening rape, and insulting Mexican-Americans, Muslims and women.[21][22]
Zareh Sinanyan and his wife, Lori Sinanyan, have four children, 1 daughter and 3 sons, named Areg Sinanyan (Youngest), Aram Sinanyan, Mher Sinanyan, and Anahid Sinanyan (Oldest) [10]
Sinanyan endorsed Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2016 presidential election.[23]
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